Chubby Bao House

Chubby bao house is a nice lunch option situated in a fun food hall with a good amount of seating called Fork Forty. The tofu baos had amazing texture and great freshness from the slaw with jalapeño dressing. I did find the tofu seasoning to be a bit heavy on the Chinese five spice, which was overpowering at times. The fries that came on the side weren't anything special. My boyfriend got the kimchi fried rice, which came with a big portion and had good flavor.

Located in a food hall, this is a good choice for lunch. Their wings are fantastic! I recommend getting the sauce on the side. I got the chorizo friend rice. the chorizo overpowered the other flavors. but it was still good.

Loved eating at this spot inside of the Fork Forty Food Hall! Very cool vibe inside, feels like a nice community spot. I had three of the bao sandwiches, the pork, tofu and carne asada. The Honey BBQ pork was my favorite, but they all tasted great. My only disappointment was the amount of fries on the side seemed quite small for the amount of food I ordered. Otherwise I would definitely eat here again, delicious and very kind service.

Oh no! This used to be my favorite spot for chicken wings in Salem. I've been to this place at least five or six times and I've always been amazed at how good the food is but tonight I was amazed at how terrible it was. It was like walking into the twilight zone. The sign looks different than I remember it. I asked the person working there if the owner and name had changed and he said new owner but same name. I said didn't it used to be called Panda something? He said no (but here on yelp it is still called Chubby Panda). Anyway, I always get the five spice chicken wings. Somebody please help me here, what am I missing? The chicken wings on the picture that I am used to have a white dusting and are super crunchy and delicious, but the wings that came out tonight were dark, black underneath, overcooked, and had absolutely no spice. The chopped peppers were so bad I had to spit them out because of the rancid flavor. This is the first time in my life I've ever left a restaurant with wings on the table. I also ordered the shrimp fried rice. The picture shows beautiful pan fried fresh shrimp over fried rice but what came out was dark overcooked breaded shrimp that I wouldn't expect from a gas station. What's worse was the flavor of the fried rice. It literally tasted like gasoline in the rice. There must be some sort of fuel or oil that they use, but it was awful. The guy who worked there was super nice and offered to remake the shrimp but it wouldn't help, the food was just terrible. I don't mind spending good money for good food but I spent $53 for six bad chicken wings and two orders of terrible fried rice. I'm hoping that the other items on the menu that I didn't try are just as good as they used to be because I loved this place.

I was really excited to try this place and will not return after my experience today. It took over 25 min to receive my order (2 bao and Rangoon) by this point our group had ordered plates at 4 different restaurants and had finished the food before I received mine. The pork bao was inedible, the meat was very dry and portions small. It looked visually very appealing but lacked in actual flavor. The fried chicken was similar, visually it was stunning though very large to eat as a hand held item. It completely lacked in flavor or salt, it tasted like plain chicken fried in flour. The Rangoon was good The fries were ok but felt like an after thought. I ended up throwing the food away. I brought it up to staff but was just told they would mention it to management. I understand small businesses have struggles but this was just poor time management and a failure to taste test food as a chef.

My niece had never had bao buns before, and this was a great place to start. She got the carne asada and I got the bbq pork. Fluffy bao bun, tasty meat, and awesome hand cut fries. Service was quick, and go ahead and get the order of three. Totally worth it. Fun indoor food truck pod vibes!

Located at the Fork Forty Food Hall, the stall is easy to find. Ordered takeout. Service was quick. Food was delicious.

Very fast casual tasting food with an emphasis on the fast... Ordered the five spice tofu with kimchi fried rice, the teriyaki chicken plate and the Korean bbq wings. Five spice tofu with kimchi fried rice: 1.5 / 5 Rice was completely tasteless. Tofu was nothing special. Just some fried tofu with cheap Fred Myers style Asian sauce. Hospital food has more flavor. Teriyaki chicken plate: 1.5 / 5 Costco style wings deep fried with the weirdest teriyaki sauce I've ever tasted. Korean bbq wings: 3 / 5 Definitely the best of the bunch, but not worth the price for 6 wings. Chicken was juicy, batter was nice and crispy. Unfortunately they were drowning in sauce. I imagine this is what Korean food would taste like if your white neighbors tried making it for you for the first time.

Never have I had Korean fried chicken that tastes like nothing before until this place. Five spice jalapeño wings had not one bit of flavor. Not sure how that is even possible.

I'm trying to wrap my head around the dry rub wings and rice I ordered. It was like eating nothing. I'm not sure how they managed to suck all the flavor out, but they did. It was so bland that i had to go throw the whole plate away. If you're looking for anything remotely flavorful, this isn't the place.

This place is located at a food hall called Fork Forty, this is something that Salem needs and I'm proud/glad that someone had put this together. The food hall has many restaurants in there including this one. Inside the facility, there's lots of chairs and tables, there's also a bar and inside the bar is where the bathrooms are located. The reasoning for the low stars was that there was no flavor, all three baos were so bland, meat was over cooked. I will say, for the price it is considered "cheap" because when you actually go to a bao spot, it's not actually this size it's much smaller. So you are getting more for what you're paying but honestly I took two bites each and unfortunately had to toss it out. The fries were just okay, could be a little more crispy. Unfortunately they don't have any other condiments like ketchup for the fries, the only sauce they have is this green sauce and it was bland as well. No flavor at all. The chicken in the other hand, I will say it was cooked perfectly but the coating was soggy and didn't have that crisp, overly sauced and the sauce on top of that was not good. Im located in Portland and I love Korean fried chicken, it's honestly the best and I do often go to places like ChimKing, Honey Spice & BonChon. Those places I named are authentic Korean fried chicken that is a must try and this chicken was just... incomparable. Overall was disappointed, the food also took over 20 minutes and there was barely anyone there. My friends and I did a food tour and ordered a plate from each restaurant to try and since no one was there we got our food right away except at this place. Unfortunately, wouldn't come again. I appreciate the efforts and Salem isn't really a foodie place so at least they have this?... I guess.

We went to the FORK FORTY FOOD HALL indoor food court. I think they have around 6-7 restaurants and a bar in the back. We had food from three different restaurants. One beginning Chubby Panda Bao. The honey roasted pork bao was pretty good. The BBQ pork looked different than their website. It was more like BBQ Chinese pork from the grocery store. Their fat fries were very good.

I got kimchi rice plate; it was acceptable but not good enough to order again and was expensive for what I got. I was not hungry when I left, as there was a healthy serving of rice. The people working here were very nice. It took a very long time to fix the food (I thought they might have forgotten me). Overall an average experience.

was on my list of places to try;I was in the area with my wife last night,so we tried it out. First off, I want to say how wonderful the girl was behind the register that was so friendly and patient with us and our first time there. It was really great food and the atmosphere was pretty cool lookin,I'll definitely be back to try some other items.

Friendly service and loved the filling portions. It all just needed more salt and spice. I sampled the chicken, beef and tofu buns with a side of jalapeno coleslaw. It comes with a side a of fries that are thick cut. The chicken is a take on Korean fried chicken. It was nicely cooked inside but tasteless, like it needed to be brined more. I liked the sauce, very gingery but it made the breading soggy. The beef was forgettable, dry and needed more sauce and salt. Same with the tofu. The coleslaw wasn't what I was expecting-not spicy with a few slivers of jalapenos on top. It they worked on the flavor profiles more, I could see this as a standout place.

The food is super mediocre, not very tasty. Makes Panda Express seem amazing in comparison. Got the teriyaki chicken plate, fried tofu plate, and Korean chicken wings. None of them were very good, not even worth the space in my stomach. And this is not specific to this place, but they ask for a tip upfront when you order, even though you go up to order then pick up and bus your own dishes. So where is the service that we are tipping for?

Stopped by on our road trip to Seattle. I was craving something with a lot of flavor. We got exactly that! I ordered Korean Fried Chicken and the Rangoon's it was perfect! My husband did a combo of the fried chicken and pork with a side of Jalapeño coleslaw. Everything tasted great a perfect stop along the way. Its located inside of Fork Forty which is a food hall. There were other great options of there was more time I would love to explore the area more. Overall a great experience considering it's something we picked on a whim.

What a great place! Had a little trouble tracking it down because it's inside fork forty but it qas worth it. The gentlemen that helped me had great recommendations to try the chicken and pork bao and they were excellent! Their fries were very good as well. I really enjoyed my meal and when I am in town again, I'll be sure to stop in amd try it again.

Absolutely delicious. I ordered way too much but I also got the crab Rangoon in addition to the bao and they were both top notch. Will be going back for sure.

My DIL brought these home and graciously let me have a pork one. It was amazing! I went back today and got a trio of pork, carne asada, and the Korean fried chicken bao. I substituted the jalapeño coleslaw for the French fries. Everything was delish! My fav is the carne asada. Now go get yourself some killer stuffed fluffy buns!

One of my favorite places to eat. Everything, in my opinion, is amazing. I always get the fried chicken bao and I even had my friend from Minnesota raving about it. Don't change a thing. Unless you're gonna add more amazing food.

Great food, service was fast. The poblano sauce that comes with the fries is so good!

Very good bao bun- had the fried chicken and it was tender and juicy. And the bun was perfect

So great for bao! I love this spot for a quick lunch or to get a bao to-go! The staff are always so nice and pumped for your order! The fries that come with the bao are huge and tasty! But sometimes I also like the slaw on the side instead! Make sure you get the green sauce or an extra side of it ;)

I walk into this bougie food hall in the middle of Salem and order three bao. These aren't your ordinary bao, more like fusion food. One bao is Japanese chicken curry, it feels like a mix of an American fried chicken sandwich with Japanese influence and bao bun. I wish the meat was juicy. The Japanese curry flavor is good, but the showstopper is actually the fried tofu bao. The fried tofu is the most well balanced of the three bao I ordered. BBQ pork is good, but lacks some flavor and the pork is dry. The fries that come with a three bao combo are legit jo jos, the dipping sauce is herbaceous. The side of crab rangoon is creamy but not enough crab flavor. The dipping sauce for the rangoon is really sweet and brings a little heat. All-in-all pretty good, but not extraordinary.

A+ Chicken Wings, Jo Jos and everything is good and the taste is awesome can't get enough

The bao was a little bit so-so for me. I had the fried chicken bao and the carne asada. They came with fries that were decent and a side of a green sauce that wasn't particularly flavorful. The bread-to-filling ratio on the bao seemed heavy on the bread side, so none of the filling flavors really popped for me. The staff was super friendly and asked for any allergies etc - they were great. And the vibe of the place was very modern and vibrant. I would give them a second chance - maybe I ordered the wrong thing?

A unique combination of flavors in every dish! We ordered the chorizo fried rice, carne asada bun+fried chicken bun combo (comes with potato wedges and a cilantro-based sauce), and Korean chicken wings with ranch on the side. The chorizo fried rice was pretty good. I will say the rice was a smidge dry and the beef that was on the side of the plate was a bit chewy, however I did thoroughly enjoy the flavor of the chorizo. The fried chicken bun wasn't quite as good as the carne asada bun, and the buns are actually much bigger than we expected them to be. The cilantro dipping sauce that came with the bun combo was a bit lackluster compared to the other items we ordered. The Korean fried chicken wings were the best item we ordered though. They were perfectly crispy with the right amount of sauce. Not too messy, yet not dry. We got them at the Spicy level. They were pretty mild, so I think we could have gone up a spice level. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone traveling in the Salem area.

Very friendly service food is pretty good. Tried 3 different baos and the fries. For me it was lacking a little flavor but it wasn't bad at all. Maybe go a little bigger on the meats and sauces and do less on the toppings. All Baos come with slaw, picked onion, & cucumber but menu does not tell you that in description. Overall a good place for some baos, but wasn't wowed.

Very tasty, spicy, Korean BBQ Chicken wings. Loads of flavor, meat, and done right. Will try other menu items at another time.

Very delicious. Had 3 different bao sandwhiches. Pork and carne asada were my favorite. Chicken was third. But when I get regular tacos I generally prefer pork or carne asada so I might be biased. They were great as given, but the addition of the green avocado sauce made it better. Added another layer of flavor, but still allowed the other flavors to come through. Would come back if I was in the area. Fries were middle of the road. I didn't love them enough to warrant the calories.

Well, the name is fitting. I have definitely added some chub to my gut because of this place. No regrets. I would eat their food daily if i could. I have had almost every item on their menu. The staff is always courteous. The place is always very clean. Best part: i can even have it delivered so i don't have to role my chubby self out of my apartment. I really dont like choosing favorites.... but i order the bulgogi most often. Keep keeping me chubby, my friends. My boyfriend likes having something to hold onto.

Good bao buns & friendly service!! The rice of my boyfriends meal was a little dry but once you added the sauce it really made a difference and ended up being delicious!! I wish they had their own stand alone location so I didn't have to fight with downtown parking to grab a quick lunch, but it's still a cool spot and the food was worth it whether you eat it in the market space or take it home.

Love this place. I come to it every time I visit my daughter in Salem. I could eat here every week. Super fresh and tasty. Love the fried chicken bao's

Super delicious! I had the Tri-Force Sampler after I got my first corona hair cut next door. 3 bao sandwiches, one Carne Asada, one Korean Fried Chicken, and one Honey BBQ Pork. All were tasty but I think I liked the carne asada and fried chicken a bit more than the pork So happy that you guys and Fork Forty are FINALLY open. Wish you all the best!

3.5 stars Yum!! I love me some baos. Baos always brings back memories as a kid when we would get the duck/bao dish at banquets. The baos are pretty big, but still definitely opt for the 3 so you can try it all! I think my favorite was the Korean Fried Chicken (KFC). I think it could have been a bit more crispier, but overall the flavors were great and worked really well. The side fries that came with the baos were pretty skimpy...BUT THEIR DIPPING SAUCE was so good (I dipped some of my KFC from my rice in it too). I had the Kim Chi fried rice with KFC. Same issue with the chicken; could have been more crispy. I wish they had a fried egg (and maybe some furikake) on top of the rice which would have just made it *Italian chef kiss*. Other that than, I think this is definitely a place to check out if you're looking from some fusion food.

This was nasty af, the wings were thicker than me and I could taste/feel the GMO's running through my body. The bao was not bad but it was not good, my bbq pork bao was colder than my girlfriends heart and don't even get me started on the fried chicken bao. It was a chicken tender that was blander than my sisters food pallet. Bao buns were also way too big compared to the ingredients inside. The staff was great though, the lady was kind and friendly.

I've actually tried this place when they were a food truck, but my experience with that wasn't so great. We decided to give this place a second try. The food took awhile to prepare, longer than what they told us it was going to take. The food itself was... okay. The baos were mediocre. We tried 3 different ones too. The flavor was just not there for me. The korean fried chicken was decent. Probably the best thing they have there. The kimchi fried rice was really disappointing. It tasted closer to dirty rice than the traditional kimchi fried rice. It was dry and I couldn't taste any red pepper paste, which is typically used, and only a little kimchi came through. Overall it's not for me.

I was looking forward to trying this place when I saw they had tofu Bao. I don't know if their menu is wrong or what, but it was topped with coleslaw and it kimchi like the menu says. I got a takeout order so didn't see until I got home. I don't like coleslaw so I scraped it off and ate the rest. I'm assuming most of the flavoring went with the coleslaw so it was very bland. I ate one plus the fries which were very good. I would give 2.5 if I could.

Fried tofu bao was light and flavorful. Home-made green sauce for the fries was similar to Peruvian cilantro sauce and delicious. Highly recommended.

The food is absolutely what I would describe as comfort food. The chicken is perfectly fried, the meat is perfectly marinated and falls apart, the bao are fluffy but have enough of a chew that it lends to the overall texture of the meal... And do not even get me started on the cucumber sauce. It will make even the staunchest of cucumber haters reconsider! First timers should get the Triforce, which is one of each bao with fries, which are more like jo-jos but smaller with a better crunch; it gives you the perfect opportunity to find your favorite, but mine was the Korean Fried Chicken for sure! Joe and his crew are friendly, fun, but honestly with food this delicious I'd go back even if they weren't - but just like every unexpected thing about Chubby Panada, it's just another happily ticked box! I genuinely cannot wait to go back!

Got the Korean Fried chicken and the honey BBQ pork baos. Both were pretty tasty, i ended up eating them a few hours later but still really good even though I had to reheat them.

Delicious! Bao Combo. The fries were thick cut and tasty. The chicken was all white meat and wonderfully crispy. I could eat the coleslaw daily. I highly recommend you give it a try.

Oh. My. Gawd!!! The boa here is completely on point. I couldn't have gotten better anywhere! I don't know how they did it, but the fries were even Bombay!!! People....put this food in your face. You won't be disappointed!

The best food spot in Salem in my opinion. I always get the tri sampler and it looks small but is very filling so I get two meals out of it. I've never had a bad order. It is ALWAYS perfect looks and tastes good and nothing is ever missing. I love their soft buns and thick crispy fries and the sauces are to dieeeee for. You can call for pickup and they'll have it ready in about 10-15 minutes. I've never had to wait longer than that even when I didn't call ahead and had to wait in line. Their staff has always been polite and I think the guy who's usually in there is actually the owner. A great local business to support. You won't be disappointed.

The price for this is kinda steap for buns that are prepackaged. We ordered every bun, but the tofu. Meat choices were very dry especially the Chinese pork... comes with pickled veggies and potato wedges which I think is wierd, but I guess its more americanized. The rice bowls, I've tried kimchi and the chorizo. Rice was so dry... like... panda express rice texture? Wasn't the business for me honestly. Spent about 50 bucks for over cooked meat and not so authentic Asian fusion food. I also bought Korean wings, that didn't really taste like more tangy, very thai chili sauce type wings. I think only thing I was ok with.

Not bad, tried three different styles for my first time, preferred the chicken. Glad to have new options in downtown Salem.

I don't know how they do it, but the fries are to die for. The sandwiches are good as well.

Loved my Fried Chicken Bao!! My friends got other items from the same booth. We were all satisfied. The fries were the best. They were thick but crunchy on the outside. I will go again.